Conflict Resolution Coursework Example

Conflict Resolution
Name:
Institution:
Date:

Conflict Resolution
Hospital surveys indicate that hospital staff members often perceive the physicians as the main cause of conflicts in hospitals. Physicians are disruptive mainly because of forceful personalities and minimal training regarding interpersonal skills. A disruptive physician decreases the healthcare delivery efficiency and increases stress in the hospital environment. Many times this causes the supportive staff to lose work morale and the team spirit which may adversely lead to a dysfunctional team, poor communication, and withholding of critical information because of the fear of increasing conflict (Finkelman, 2016). This ultimately has a negative impact on the patient care because the physician may lose proper nurse support and eventually become isolated.
An example of a disruptive physician conflict occurred when I was working as a nurse assistant to Dr. MacBean at the Midwestern hospital. After a short while, I observed that he would direct unfounded resentment my way, particularly during the surgery proceedings and use names like ‘dump-headed lady’ or ‘idiot.’ Sometimes when I did not clearly understand the instructions he would use curse words to describe me. This was really affecting my ability and confidence to carry out my duties as a physician assistant. Further, it lowered my working morale and made me fear passing patient information in order to avoid his encounter. I realized that the conflict will go unresolved and this would greatly affect my work.

We needed to communicate and enable him to understand the importance of interpersonal skills. At this point, the delegation was an issue because I did not know who to talk to and feared it would escalate the issue.
The type of conflict that I experienced was disruptive physician conflict. This is because it greatly undermined my morale towards work, diminished the level of productivity, efficiency, and quality of patient care delivery (Finkelman, 2016). Furthermore, I had to deal with a great deal of frustration, lack of communication, lack of concentration, and reduced collaboration with the physician.
Latent conflict is the first of conflict where individuals may be in conflict without being aware that they are in conflict. In this case, it is possible that maybe I made a mistake when writing a patient’s report and when it wasn’t corrected a conflict at this stage could be called latent. The second stage of conflict is perceived phase, where the individuals involved in the conflict are fully aware of the existence of a conflict. In my case, the physician made me aware of the conflict and his negative attitude towards was telling (Spaho, 2013).
Felt conflict is when one or more of the parties involved in the conflict begin to feel a sense of anxiety and stress due to the escalation of the conflict (Spaho, 2013). For instance, in my case, after observing the high level or resentment from the physician I developed negative feelings towards work, lack of motivation, and confidence at work. I was always frustrated and full of anxiety which affected my ability to provide the quality of care to patients. The felt stage of conflict automatically leads to the Manifest Stage where the conflict becomes noticeable to other parties. This stage can present itself in a number of shapes that are phone calls, messages, e-mails, or face-to-face meetings, among other situations in which the nature of conflict can be observed (Spaho, 2013). For instance, when I had to attend a meeting regarding how I should carry my tasks in assisting the physician, I realized that he sometimes pulled me aside to speak just to hurl negative words at me and make me question my nursing skills.
Usually, the conflict of a disruptive physician fundamentally arises from the differences in knowledge and power. The general perception is that the doctors are in authority and gives instructions that must be followed by nurses and patients. This perspective can endanger the life of patients because physicians make it difficult for nurses to speak freely when they observe or note a vital error or need to question the orders. Also, the nurses are trained to holistically take care of the patient while the doctors are trained to focus on the patient’s case, treatments, and cures without the need of considering their emotions cultural or social factors that can affect the patient.
Resolving the disruptive physician conflict requires a combination of both interpersonal strategies and strategies of the healthcare institution for reducing interdisciplinary conflicts. Interpersonal strategies concentrate on ensuring that the nurses feel much more empowered through teaching them ways to equalize the fields between disciplines. Moreover, the nature of organizational culture is essential in determining the various aspects of the complex relationship between nurses and physicians. Therefore, institutions should consider the strategy of shared governance that gives nurses a voice (Barsky, 2014). Further, the institutions should establish policies that strictly discipline verbal abuse or any disruptive behaviors originating from physicians or other cadres in general. The most effective way for managing work conflicts is to prevent or minimize its frequency and the level of intensity of the conflicts. This involves developing and establishing professional codes of conduct in the institution, the medical employee’s bylaws, and developing a group practice approach (Barsky, 2014). With the presence of clearly laid down rules, it enables the doctors and nurses to discipline themselves through blocking out personality issues, which are commonly the cause of conflicts.
Secondly, the institutions should utilize the approach of training both physicians and nurses together to minimize the conflict of interdisciplinary. This approach seems to be more effective because it allows nurses and doctors to learn how to collaborate while still in training. This allows both parties to shed their egos and the adversarial perception and focus on understanding the roles of each other (Barsky, 2014). This, in turn, helps in improving the patient care and in enhancing job satisfaction for both the nurses and physicians.
The most effective way to collaborate with the nurse leader in order to build a consensus on the appropriate approach to employ to deal with a disruptive physician is by working together. This involves developing skill-set for effective communication. These skills include management of conflict, building consensus through collaboration, and negotiation. These important skills not only enhance the quality of patient care but are also crucial to the success of the institution and individual professional success at a personal level. Collaboration is an effective method for conflict management by which groups or employees work together to attain a common goal (Barsky, 2014).
Secondly, negotiation is another tool that can be used in dealing with a disruptive physician. People recognize that problems arise every now and then, but when medical professionals are in conflict it is impossible to attain goals. Negotiation is another process for conflict management (Barsky, 2014). During the process of negotiation, medical professionals should engage in an honest form of communication and adjust their disparities to ultimately reach a consensus. It is essential to recognize each other goals and to embrace the differences in order to work harmoniously. Despite its effectiveness, the process of negotiation requires each party to learn and practice. Essentially, every employee in the healthcare system has the power and duty to address the conflicts through the negotiation process by highlighting the differences of opinion.
In summary, the disruptive physician is a common conflict occurring in most hospitals. The worst thing about the conflict is that it may never be resolved and therefore it causes high turnover. The disruptive physician can fatally result in endangering the life of a patient because it involves ineffective communication between the physician and nurse and most importantly lack of collaboration. On the side of the nurse, it leads to a high level of stress, frustration, anxiety, demoralization, and inability to provide the quality of care. In the end, it results in having a dysfunctional teamwork system where the physician may lack proper assistance and support.
To deal with a disruptive physician, the management put up effective measures that include the establishment of policies at the personal, team, and institutional levels. Further, the doctors should be trained together with nurses to build aspects of collaboration, trust, and understanding before even working together. Also, aspects of collaboration and negotiation should be utilized to manage the conflict. Essentially, healthcare conflicts are numerous and the management should take the responsibility of incorporating strategies that prevent, minimize or eradicate these conflicts to safeguard the lives of patients and create an environment that is conducive for work.

References
Barsky, A. (2014). Conflict Resolution for the Helping Professions. Oxford University Press.
Finkelman, A. (2016). Leadership and management for nurses: Core Competencies for Quality Care. Pearson.
Spaho, K. (2013). Organizational Communication and Conflict Management. Management: Journal of contemporary management issues, 18(1), 103-118.